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U.S. judge orders Iran to pay $63 million to ex-Marine tortured, imprisoned four years, Washington Post

09.29.17

A U.S. judge Friday ordered the government of Iran to pay $63 million in damages to Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who alleged Iranian captors tortured and held him prisoner for 4-1/2 years from 2011 to 2016.

Hekmati, 33, an Iranian-American from Michigan, was freed in January 2016 by Iran as part of a prisoner exchange along with Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Christian minister Saeed Abedini, and another American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari.

U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle of Washington granted a default judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which as its custom did not respond to Hekmati’s lawsuit in May 2016 for damages. The judgment was split 50-50 between punitive and compensatory damages for pain, suffering and economic loss.

“No award ever could fully compensate Amir Hekmati for the cruel and inhuman treatment he endured over five years at the hands of his brutal Iranian captors,” Hekmati’s attorney, Scott D. Gilbert of Washington, said in a statement. “But this brings Amir and his family another step closer to closure and ultimately, we all hope, to being able to move on with their lives. As for the Iranian government, this well documented opinion shines a spotlight on who they really are. And they will pay for that.”